Home Sweet Home
by Whamidoinhere
Summary: The whole theatre crew have been invited to tour the UK, and as they meet more fans, have an adventurous and fun time in a new place, and become better friends, an unlikely 'opposites attract' pair find more similarities and a bigger relationship in each other, at a time and place they couldn't have ever conceived.
1. Reflection

Here's the first (shorter than I'd wished) chapter of my new story! This story won't have any OC's, and is an AshXJohnny pairing story, with the main focus on Johnny and Ash, but also goes along with the other characters too (with no other pairings). So without any more chat, enjoy chapter one of "Home Sweet Home"!

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Life had been a rollercoaster of a ride.

It had been a good 4 months since the big performance, and the grand "re"-opening of the New Moon theatre had been an old media topic for a few months now. Things settled slowly, but it seemed now the whole crew were back to reality, from the dream that was the events of the encore of the old Moon theatre.

It stood tall and proud, an old concept, but still a popular attraction of the main road it watched over. The black, starless sky soon met the thatched wood roof of the rebuilt modern entertainment hub, yet still the roof was adorned with a ginormous roman style clock, two bright gold plated hands both pointing to X. Animals of all shapes and sizes strolled the pavement, cars only just whisks of light speeding past the theatre. The three water stacks illuminated the scene in front of it, contributing to all the blinding lights of the street, stretching out of sight. Things wouldn't have this busy, if it wasn't for the weekly Saturday night activity spike. And a certain fuzzy grey koala adored it.

Buster Moon, showman and presenter 'extraordinaire', leaned out of the open window of his theatre office, enjoying the sight of the nightlife below. "Ah, this fresh coat of paint looks great on you" Buster let out a chuckle. Rubbing the slick white window frame surface, his furry paws gliding over it smoothly with ease, he became lost in his daze, the colourful lights in the black background gave him a moment to recollect his thoughts over the past many interesting months. 'Interesting' was a truly an understatement.

 _His great (completely original, never-done-before) idea, a singing competition, turned out in a way no single animal could have forethought. "Who wants to see another one of those" the sheep's response was quick and off-putting, but the koala knew for sure he knew what would draw in the audience. Mrs. Crawly, one of his oldest friends somehow still his oldest (and only) assistant, managed to screw up, and she screwed up bad. After all that auditioning, and his 'chosen few' lined up, they struggled to live the performs dream. Somehow, he'd then landed a visit from the diva herself, Noodleman, it was the biggest promise he'd ever had. And the squid lit stage, it was an architectural wonder! If only it had seen at least even 1 whole event. It was his fault in the end for the flood, and collapse of the theatre._ _ **His**_ _theatre, the theatre his loving dad struggled to buy for him. Now all he had left of it was the single bucket that his dad could have filled with his sweat and tears from the years of work, and memorabilia shot of the opening of the very building the years of work paid for._

Buster came back from his trip down memory lane, with a small thoughtful frown and swivelled in his chair from the window, facing the wall. It was pretty empty, save for two pictures and a bucket hanging from a nail. The first was a panoramic shot, showing the opening of the first Moon theatre. Below it, was framed the second, a similar shot with the theatre family, all gathered around the tape that had been freshly cut, re-starting the legacy of the predecessor. Under the two wide pictures, was the bucket that started it all. **The** bucket. It meant so much to Buster. It was in all fairness the piece that started it all. The koala swivelled back around, resuming his thought train that travelled through his past.

 _Buster was worthless, he had nothing. He lay flat on the airbed, pitying himself, when all of a sudden, there was a knock._ _with_ _"Come on, Moon, you can't just hide out in your buddy's pool house" a certain recently heartbroken porcupine's voice rang out. That's what he had intended on doing at the time. He then shut them off, and was soon re-interrupted by an elephant this time. "This is my lot for life, that I'm not the guy that my dad wanted me to be, not by a million miles!" He shouted at the elephant, sending her away. He knew he still had to get a living some how._

 _So what else could he do? "What are you doing?" "The only other job I know." He was washing cars, just like his dad. Where was the progress through generations? Moon was a forgotten name. He had a use for the bucket once again. Soon they picked up the pace, and were on the clock for 3 hours, until Buster heard a voice, one he could sense was familiar, but one he definitely hadn't heard before. After climbing the ruins, he saw it, and as he watched in awe, he knew what he had to do now. "Do you think you could sing like that in front of a real audience?" "I don't know, but I want to try." It was the only response he needed._

 _Soon, the theatre crew had lined up, ready to enter the makeshift stage. This was the encore, the final hoorah. And suffice to say, it wasn't the final(e) after all._

 _It was a blur after that, the performance, the cheering, and Nana. Buster was no longer on the Moon, he was over it. Then, the rebuilding of the theatre. It was a dream come true for Buster. The theatre was even more an architectural wonder than the stage. And the theatre crew were so close, they were practically a family. And things were getting back to normal._

 _Meena, the elephant with the heavenly voice, that truly ended the concert, was now just ordinary Meena. Sure, she came to rehearse every once or so, and she managed to fit in at least 2 evenings every week, but she was still only in high school at 14. Previously, a schoolgirl with a hidden voice, was now quite open and confident, and the most popular girl in her school. Hell, maybe even the whole town! A couple months ago, Buster managed to get her for a Memorial Day concert, her voice was perfect for the message that was being sent, and there were many tears that day in the theatre._

 _Then there was Rosita, the pig that could fly, at least on stage. Yet, as Buster saw for the first time when he had been raided by them on stage, she had 25 young of her own. They were quite young too, 25 8-year-old piglets, no wonder she was always late or arrived to the theatre flustered. But somehow, she managed to find the "fire und desire" Gunter, her dazzling partner, had told her about. Yet, unfortunately since the show, she'd been very dormant, only appearing once every week, complaining about Norman not being home and saying his 'work from home' days were difficult to stretch to make ends meet._

 _Mike, how was he doing? Sure, he only just made it alive last time, and it seems he's in his right mind now. Mike managed to payback the Russian mob bears, but still owing the bank a large sum from his loan. He and his girlfriend Nancy had settled down, yet were still trying to live the high life. Going to clubs, partying, playing cards, and the such. Although whether Mike had learned his lesson was unknown, but it seemed he stayed out of trouble. He kept his sports convertible though, "I ain't lettin' this one up, I'll just pay the bank for it" he would justify._

 _Who was left? Johnny, what was he doing? In all fairness, Buster had no idea. Johnny was still reminiscing his Dad's prison sentence. It was a long one at that too, Buster knew that much from the press, an article on page 20 of the newspaper Buster read. Sure, the gorilla had visited the theatre, even if it was only 3 times since, but it was for certain Johnny was struggling to make enough to live. He was working at the garage where he lived, but it just about paid for his well-being. But being the gentle soul he was, he informed Buster about his situation, and Buster comforted him, telling him about his own life story._

 _And Ash of course. Like Johnny, Buster had no clue of what she'd been up to, where she was, what she was doing, except for the last time she came to the theatre to rehearse by herself, about 1 and a half months ago. She just walked in, without a word, to the rehearsal room, played some songs Buster had never heard before, then walked straight out after a few hours. Buster wanted to catch up, but she left without him noticing. In fact, she walked in without him noticing too, possibly though the backstage door, since the doorman hadn't recollected her presence._

And for himself? Buster saw there was no time better than now. After he'd scrapped his old shows, he replaced them with real spectacles, "These are things people want to watch!" he'd exclaim to Eddie. More surprisingly, the patron Nana was actually interested in funding them! "Rosie takes a bow?" More like "Les Miserables" or "West Side Story!" Both of which the Koala wanted to try, but as he saw the difficulties the crew were having with their own lives, he couldn't even tell them about his plans.

 _Speaking of plans..._

Furry little legs pushed the rolling leather office chair away from the dark window, back toward the polished wood desk. With a furrowed brow, deep in thought and slightly worried, Buster pulled up the lid of his black brushed aluminium Razer notebook, now visible glowing green accents as it turned on. Yet being the smallest laptop he could find of 12 inches, it still dwarfed him. He was quite small for even for his own species.

Loading the mail application, he re-opened the email that topped his favourites, Subject: "Hey, we have an opportunity for your theatre!" Followed up with viewed: 34 times in small text under it. As he glanced over the contents once more, his eyes became glassy, his focus now clearly lost in the screen, as he thought hard. There were so many commitments, but the theatre family just hadn't been as close as they were just before the performance and the re-opening of the Moon theatre. This was just what they needed, but Buster was asking a lot, a lot indeed. This was stretching it far, _really_ far. Buster mumbled to himself, not really concentrating. He never talked to himself, but...

"I really hope it all works out..."

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I hope it was good, like I said, shorter than I'd like, but a toe-dip into the pool, to see if you guys like it. Please Rate and Review! Any kind of criticism is the best kind of review you could give me (what you think will/want to happen, if you liked the chapter, what could be done to improve, etc.). I love to read all the reviews no matter what you say! Until next chapter though, Peace! ;)


	2. Meetings and Messages

Buster was in the best of moods. Since when isn't he?

Today was a new day, so of _course_ that meant a classic migraine to start the day with. But as he rose up, minding his fuzzy head, he realised he didn't need to: he wasn't sleeping in his drawer. Where he was, was the highest portion of the theatre in which he resided. The thatched, classic sloped roof had come with extra spare empty space below, a bit taken by the clock, but there was still a part separated from the entire theatre. This was Buster's _apartment._

It was huge too, one floor space, with the one half taken by a large living room area. This space was quite barren, not taking into account the 3-seater brown leather reclining sofa, behind a small, low level glass coffee table. Above it, was a large glass window panel, that could be wirelessly controlled, now open to let the bright morning light shine upon the sofa and table. These two pieces of bare furniture faced a towering 50 inch Samsung smart TV. The TV literally crushed the little koala in height, it was a wonder how Buster could view it with his full field-of-view. It sat on a stand, above a PlayStation 4, next to a Wi-Fi router. Although, the only _thing_ that was out of place was the extremely large wooden cupboard in the corner, although it would have look less inconspicuous if it hadn't disguised the elevator, the actual purpose behind the doors. The doors seemed like they would swing open, the handles in the middle gave away as much, they didn't, instead they would slide open to take you down to either Buster's office, or the backstage area on the ground floor.

The other half was then split into two once more. The Living room was open plan and would lead into the kitchen, which was also quite open and big. Buster would always cook for himself, finding it was the best way to keep himself healthy, and know what was going into the food he would have. Next to the stove were some eucalypts leaves and some bread, clearly to be turned into sandwiches. The kitchens facilities were built surrounding a large dining table. The other half however, was Buster's bedroom, any also the only one in this large apartment. The bedroom was connected to an en-suite, which was fairly small but still had space to occupy a bathtub as well as the toilet and sink.

Buster scanned his home with glee, admiring the architectural effort put into his new permanent accomodation. But that smile soon faded into a mournful frown. He was going to have to leave it behind if he wanted to put his plan into action.

Now with his plan in mind, he revisited his sight from last night. The email was possibly the second best thing to come across his way in this past year, he knew this was what everyone needed. What the _Theatre Family_ needed (the way he thought of the performers and himself and Mrs Crawly and Eddie as a group).

Now back in his bedroom, with his laptop onto his lap (he had brought it with him from the office below last night), he once again opened the lid, green accents now not so obvious in the bright morning sunlight. He checked his schedule for the day, faded blue irises rolling over the screen as he murmured. "Today's empty, nothing like a good Monday meeting! I'll have that at 1 P.M, but I gotta meet Eddie first, and if they agree, I'm gonna need to start organising!" His previously dull expression was now morphed into an excited one.

Buster whipped his phone out from the bedside drawer, wincing as the sunlight streaming though the roof window reflected off the shiny screen into his pupils, he angled it and unlocked it. But after opening the contacts app, he stared at it blankly, suddenly doubting himself. What if they couldn't do it? Rosita had 25 kids to look after for one, and what about the others, and their problems too? "Well, I won't know if I don't try" Buster mumbled to himself, countering his own argument. He needed to call Eddie first anyway.

"Hey Buster, what's up this early?" was the groggy voice from the other end after 2 rings. "Early, Eddie, come on! It's only 10 a.m!" Buster's naturally exited voice must have woken the lethargic sheep up. How was he so lazy? "Whatever, what's up though" came through the earpiece speaker along with some creaky springs from a sofa. "Hey, I need you to come to the theatre at 12, we need to set some things up, alright?" "Are we having another show? Do I need my headset? Also what about the mixing board, and the..." the sheep got nervous and kept rambling on. "Calm down, Eddie, we're just having a meeting with the entire theatre crew. Just drop by at 12, OK?" "Sure Buster, see ya!" With a beep Buster finally let out a sigh. He had more than a few more calls to make next. Thus, he grabbed his laptop and phone, and took to the elevator.

After half an hour of searching phonebooks, contact and sign-up sheets, and making some calls, Buster had managed to cover most of the group. Rosita could make it to the meeting, as the kids were at school, so 1 was fine. Meena had also been available, as Buster also called in her school before her personally, to excuse her for a ' _business meeting_ ', which was also fine as it was timed during her lunch break. Meena was quite surprised, her voice over the phone gave away as much, but she was fine with it, thanking Moon for the extent to which he went to; showing his loyalty to his crew.

Mike had also picked up the phone, and agreed to the meeting. That would be the quick explaination, as the actual phone call was laced with ego and arrogance, something the koala somehow always managed to suck up. "Yeah _sure,_ although I've got a date with Nancy this afternoon, so don't stretch it Moon!" Gunter was also quite easy to chase up. He talked though some public noise; "Ja, I can Mr Moon, aber ich bin einkaufen gehen... Zorry, I mean, I'm going shopping, but I will be zere!" was the equally exited voice from the German pig. But now there were just two animals left to contact, Johnny and Ash.

Buster hadn't seen them in ages, so it was going to be hard to trace them down. Hopefully, like the other, their phone numbers were the same. "Mrs Crawly, are you there?" Buster yelled through the intercom, knowing the crazy iguana was prone to being, nicely put, ' _audio-visually impaired_ '. "Who is it" was the reply, did she still really make that mistake by accident? "Your boss, y'know... Mr Moon?" "AH! Yes, hello, Mr Moon!" "Yes, Mrs Crawly, could you get me contact info for the performers, Ash and Johnny?" With that, the intercom beeped off.

Soon, the door swung open, as the wooden floor creaked with the steps of the old lizard. "Here you go, Mr Moon, and I made you some coffee too!" "Thank you, Mrs Crawly!" As she left, he saw that in fact there was coffee in the mug! There must have been some improvement then. He took a gander at the two sheets now in front of him, laying out a picture of both stars, with "SELECTED" stamped over them, and other info next to the profile shots. "Right, let's try Johnny first" Buster announced to himself, as he dialled in the number and rang it.

A good 10 long rings later, the phone hit the answer machine, so Buster decided to try and talk anyway. "Hello, Johnny, it's Buster Moon. If you're there, please could you co.d arr.." Buster couldn't finish as the phone suddenly picked up. "'Ello, sorry I couldn't pick up earlier, who is this" was the quickly worded sentence, laced with the thick Cockney accent. "It's Buster Moon, Johnny, I was requesting you to a meeting today at 1 P.M, the whole group _should_ be there." Buster replied. "Sure, no problem, I can be there!" "Great, see you here then!" "Sure Mr Moon!" "Please, call me Buster, and goodbye." So that was Johnny off the list.

Then the last, Ash. Buster knew it was going to be tough, easily the toughest, to reach. Buster slowly pressed the numbers into the keypad, each making the audible classic ' _beep'_. Buster pressed the green dial button and leaned back into his chair. Buster sat at the table, and waited the 10 rings to, like Johnny's call, encounter the answerphone. In the same fashion, Buster started his message: "Hello, Ash, this is Buster Moon, I'd like to request you to a meeting in the theatre, the others will be here too. Please reply if you can make it." Buster ended his message, but he also sent a text to her phone, as well as another missed call, just in case. He now had a few hours left to himself, so he thought to head out to get some brunch.

Buster soon returned, with both a happy smile on his face and a belly full. He dashed in on his old bicycle, which somehow still working, but he'd never let it go for the world. It was now 12, so Eddie must have been at the theatre. As he rode up, he saw an angry single sheep at the locked glass foyer doors, impatient. "Now see who shows up late" was Eddie's greeting, clearly annoyed at Buster's late arrival, in retort possibly to their conversation about waking up a few hours ago. "Sorry for being late, Eddie, but we've got some setting up to do."

It was now 12:30, and Buster and Eddie, with some help from Mrs Crawly too, they had laid out a table with lunch in the large backstage area, to accommodate for the group's appetite. Around the table were 9 chairs, for all of them to sit by. "So what's all this for, Buster" was Eddie's voice that rang out from below, as he tried crawling around to collect something he'd dropped. "Well, the last we'd even grouped was on the re-opening night, so we gotta at least make our guest feel welcome, and I do have a big message for them too..." Buster trailed off, thinking of what he was going to actually say to them. How was he going to word it?

At 12:50, Rosita turned up, interestingly apologising for being early. "Sorry I'm early, I had to fill up the minivan, and Tess was ill today, so I had to drop her with a friend, so I underestimated time." It was inevitable though, it was common for at least one or two kids to be off school for the day just due to chance. "It's okay, and you must be tired, so please, take a seat and have lunch until the others arrive" Buster extended his welcome. "Thank you, Mr Moon, that's very thoughtful of you." She returned and sat down at the table.

Soon, the others arrived, with Mike and Johnny just minutes next to each other just after the theatre clock chimed 1. "Hello Mike, how are..." Buster started, but was soon cut off by the little mouse with the large personality. "Nice Moon, thanks for the food" Mike hollered as he jumped onto the chair and tucked in, Buster's smile turned into a mouth gaping. Johnny walked in too, and greeted the koala cheerfully. "Hello, Mr Moon, how is everyone?" He walked up to Buster to shake his hand in a friendly manner. Buster took it, now his mouth from open to a grin again. Johnny always thought about others before himself, in the caring way he did. "Hello Johnny, we're all doing great, I hope you've been keeping well." Buster wished the larger gorilla. "We have lunch here for you all, please help yourself!" "Thank you Mr Moon" Johnny replied, taking a seat.

At 1:10 Gunter arrived in his car, alongside Meena. In a kind gesture, he'd picked her up from school, something Buster hadn't organised. It really showed the true connection between the theatre group. "Hello you two, and thanks for picking Meena up Gunter." Buster addressed them both. "Keine Probleme" was Gunter's German answer, which Buster had to take the gist of to try to understand. "By the way, like the rest, the food on the table is yours for lunch! Enjoy!" Buster told them. "Thank you" was the quiet reply from Meena, but seemed much louder when mixed with Gunter's voice as they both replied at the same time.

Buster stood back, next to Eddie, and admired the team, watching them converse among each other, as Mrs Crawly walked around in the background. "I'd never thought these would be the animals I'd have called my best friends." Buster spoke to Eddie. "How could you say that, I thought I was your best friend" Eddie lightly punched Buster in the arm, in a jokingly angry tone. "I took offence from that" "Yeah, well I took offence from your punch" Buster joked, as they both laughed. "So, you never told me about that 'big message' of yours" Eddie asked, trying to see an answer out of Buster. "It's better if you heard it with the rest, and you needn't worry, it doesn't ask a lot of you as it will for them." Buster calmly and quietly gave his explanation to Eddie, making sure Eddie saw it was thing he was going to get out of him. "And anyway, I think someone is still missing." Buster stated, trying to change the topic.

But as if just on cue, they both noticed something, or rather _someone_ enter from the backstage door. "Ah, Ash, the awesome rocker, how are youuu...?" Buster started with an uplifting tone, but trailed off as she trudged toward the two with scowl on her face. "Hey Moon" she greeted dully, staring into his faded blue eyes with her own similarly coloured ones. "Ah Ash, what's wrong, I've got some news for you and the rest that will definitely..." he paused, glancing her up and down before resuming "...' _shake'_ your mood up a bit. Anyway, thank you for coming, you must have gotten my message. You can join the others for lunch, if you want to of course..." He offered, worried at what she could say next. Her mood seemed to lighten, even if it were by very little. "Okay" she replied in a not so depressed tone this time, as she turned and walked to the table. Buster let out a sigh, and turned to Eddie, and caught his attention by shoving him, as he was staring into his phone. "I think we should join them too." Buster motion at the table, as Eddie eagerly nodded.

They were all sat around the table now, all nine of them, including Mrs Crawly, who had returned from upstairs. The food was now all gone, and the table was vacant apart from the mess after the meal. Although, the conversation was not gone, as just the 9 of them were making quiet a racket. Everyone was talking, catching up on the past 4 months as they hadn't been around each other for this time. Even Ash, who had previously been down, was now no longer looking the same and joined in the conversation. Buster finished his talk with Eddie, and clambered onto the table, and stood above everybody, ready to tell them the reason for the meeting part of their gathering.

As Buster stood on the table patiently with a smile, the group stopped, the koala catching their attention. He started "So I know we all haven't met in a while, so I'd like to welcome everyone back" He paused, thinking through his next words. "Of course, I wouldn't just call it a meeting and invite you all to lunch here backstage of all places to eat, so I want to reveal why you're all here. I recently received an email, from quite a distant country. And they had a proposition for me, in fact, for all of us." Buster kept going, looking now at the 6 star performing animals in front of him. Some of them started murmuring to each other.

"They have... _invited_ us, especially you stars, to meet them, and the many fans we have there, apparently..." Buster looked down at the table, surprised now by his own words. They were world famous, believe it or not... just from one shambled show, although it was a bit climactic, with quills flying everywhere, helicopters with dazzling lights and turbulence, flashing colours to the beat of the piano and dazzling, sparkling dresses. It caught the media attention of the world only a week later, and animals all over the world wanted to see these special, suddenly famous stars.

"And don't worry, everything is ready, it's just your word and we'll be off..." Buster alluded to, but averted the real statement he'd been trying to avoid. All 6 performers were now on the edge of their seats, listening to him intently, with curious expressions. "I better just tell you guys now." Buster concluded.

"We've been invited to tour the UK!"


	3. Feelings and Thoughts

A/N: Hey, I haven't really said anything in the last chapter, but thanks for reading this story! I appreciate the support, no matter what it is, even if its just a view, so thanks! This chapter is a bit of a filler really, and it isn't as long as it could be, but it will be followed up by a more important one, so don't worry! Anyway, Enjoy!

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"We've been invited to tour the UK!"

Buster threw his short furry arms in the air, the way he usually does for his very often, and conclusively irrelevant announcements. But this wasn't one of those small announcements, it was one that needed time to sink in, and Buster was willing to be patient for a bit, but how many seconds was too many for the panic to hit?

Buster still kept his arms up, smiling, waiting, as agonising seconds passed.

Yet still the animals who sat around the table he stood upon were still unmoved, frozen in their still curious expressions.

Buster kept it up though, not letting the beaming expression leave his face.

The group had now started wearing shocked expressions, a few with their mouths open, but still, no noise.

It was getting really awkward, the dead air hung around them. Until...

"This is great, no!?" First to speak up was the now equally excited dazzling pig, in his German accent. Buster soon let out a sigh from his gaping, smiling mouth, as an understandably quiet cheering and applause ensued from the other 7 around him, being there were only these 7 contributing to the noise. "This is awesome!" "Cool, this sounds like fun!" "What a wonderful opportunity!" "We're world famous?!" Of course, that last one had to be from the egoistic mouse, who else would be so proud?

"I'm glad you're all okay with this great news, and I know it is a big shock, but I will let you guys take you're time and figure it out, and you can confirm whether you can make it whenever you want! Remember, there are fans out there, who want to see you stars!" Buster finished, and jumped off the table onto the ground, the drop quite high for him, so he rolled like a furball forward to soften the impact. As he lifted himself up, brushing himself off, he looked behind him, to see the group chatting amongst themselves behind him. He couldn't help the relieved smile he wore after seeing the reaction from the group.

As he was watching, a bright ray of light obstructed his view. He looked up, to see the same dazzling pig who spoke up (and saved Buster's 'bacon') earlier, who was wearing his bright expression as always. "Don't worry, Mr Moon, I will come for ze tour!" Gunter exclaimed, the first now to confirm too. "Ah, Gunter, don't you want to take a moment to think about it? It is a long trip, we might be gone for months." Buster asked. To be honest, no one really knew Gunter's story, he was quite an enigma. Did he have family? Did he have a girlfriend, or a wife? How old even was he? Buster did know the answer to the last though, although the pig definitely didn't look 31 as was given by his contestant sheet from the competition.

"It'z okay Mr Moon, I can put my life on hold for zis opportunity!" The pig _said,_ punctuating the last wordt _(his speech was constant exclamation to most others.)_ "Okay, that's great Gunter, I'll confirm you on my list." Buster left, looking for his clipboard and some other equipment. Gunter returned to the group, who were now standing around the table.

There was Meena and Mike, having a conversation, as one-sided as it was, and then there was Ash, Rosita and Johnny huddled around, talking excitedly about the trip. "I'm sure Nancy will throw a fit, but I gotta show the world I'm the best!" The little mouse gloated. "Nancy's gonna have to stay at home though, so I'll just have to be her foreign shopper, she's always wanted Ted Baker London." "How do you ever keep up with the bills?" Meena questioned Mike. "I would never put a price on my sweetheart's smile, I'd buy her anything to keep her happy." Mike answered, quite easily evading the subject originally put forward by the elephant.

Meanwhile, in the other group, Rosita and Ash were chatting away, while Johnny listened, not even trying to intervene into the fast-paced conversation the girls were having. He was seemingly still in shock anyway. "Oh, this is a great opportunity, but I'll have to tell Norman about it. It's going to be difficult, really difficult, but I must be able to come up with something…" Rosita trailed off. She knew she really wanted it, but what about the family? "Don't worry Rosita, I'm sure your family will love it!" Ash comforted her, reading her mind. "And anyway, I can't believe we have fans all over the world, does this mean I have a fandom too?!" She carried on talking about herself "I might have fangirls too, I used to be one a few years ago. Also..." the short porcupine stopped her monologue on herself, diverting her attention to Johnny, who was now sitting down on the chair once more.

"Johnny, you okay? What's up?" Ash made a few steps to confront Johnny. He had his head in his hands, and was bent down on her chair. When there was a lack of an answer, Ash hesitantly and gently pushed her small paw forward and tried to place it on his back comfortingly. Suddenly, she felt her heartbeat against her chest, and her fingers were slightly shaking. She then noticed she was in fact hyperventilating. ' _What's going on with me, why am I so shaky all of a sudden?'_ Was the question running through her mind as her still tried patting his back, undeterred. But when her fur made contact with the leather on his jacket, Johnny bolted upright, jolting Ash back quickly too.

"Ah!" was the small squeal let out by the spiny girl as her slow movements were broken by the fast reaction from Johnny. "Oh, Ash, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright, did I hurt you…" Johnny blurted out, stumbling on his words, in his worry filled voice. Johnny, always looking out for everyone. "It's okay, Johnny, chill, I'm fine." Ash replied, her heart-rate now returned to a normal pace. "Sorry, did you say something?" Johnny tried bringing back the topic conversation. "Yeah, um, you alright? You seem a little down?" Ash couldn't tell the expression Johnny was wearing, but in all fairness, Johnny never had any other expression on his face other than a beaming smile, like the beam of light that shone down on everyone he met.

Ash hadn't noticed it the first time, but she had now. _'Wow, Johnny, looking out for everyone, beam of light… Did I just seriously think this about him…?'_ Ash had no idea, why was she thinking of Johnny so much? Why was she thinking about him the way she did? Sure, everyone knew that Johnny was a soul they could talk to, but _beam of light?_ It was almost poetic, definitely unlike Ash, and her strong punk personality. "Um, yeah, I'm fine, thanks Ash. I just, don't know… how to handle the news…" Johnny's quiet speech pulled Ash out of her thoughts.

"Okay, if I'm any help, you can always talk to me, and I'm sure Rosita is also there for you, we all are." Ash comforted Johnny, as Rosita had now joined them after returning from a conversation with Gunter. "Um…" Johnny stated, trying to form his sentence, before Rosita quickly backed up Ash's line. "Of course, Johnny, you can always come to me, Ash, or anyone else, we're all here to listen to you!" Rosita finished on a high pitch note, trying to bring the smile back to Johnny's face. And it worked.

"Alright, thanks guys." Johnny tried lifting the corners of his mouth, forming a feeble smile. It did work, but not as well as the two girls had hoped. "I need to go now" were Johnny's last words before he lost his smile and solemnly left though the backstage exit. "Why is Johnny so unhappy, I don't get it" Ash turned to Rosita in some hope of an answer. There were many things Ash wanted the answer to today, but this was clearly the most important. "I think this news shocked him the most, he does come from England after all." Rosita tried reasoning, it was the only obvious explanation. From outside, an audible V8 engine could be heard roaring to a start. Soon it was ensued by tire squeal and a vehicle heading out of hearing range, which confirmed it was almost definitely Johnny leaving.

"It's alright Ash, I'm sure he'll come around soon enough." Rosita spoke quietly in a soothing voice, and left in an equally solemn manner though the same door. Ash was now alone, and it turns out she was the only one backstage too. Worrying about Johnny and talking to Rosita had somehow distracted her from the other who had left too. "I guess its home time…" Ash trailed off, heading to the train station.

Back at the office, busy body Mr Moon, had some work to do. First, to return a reply to the email he had been staring at for a whole week. "Dear Concert tours, I have discussed the tour with the group, and I have one confirmation out of the six. Please send more details. We are glad to take this opportunity up, and are proud of the many fans we have in your country. Thank you for this great offer, please get back to me with the contact methods I have listed. Yours truly, Buster Moon." Buster mused his email out as he typed it up. After pasting in his contact details, he pressed send, and turned to his agenda.

It was a large list, scanning down his whiteboard. Among the list were:

\- 'Meet Nana Noodleman.'

\- 'Add confirmed performers to list.'

\- 'Finish finance budgeting and taxes.'

\- 'Organise theatre for leave.'

The list went on, taking up the space on the entire whiteboard. It was going to be a long day…


	4. Conformations and Consolation

A/N (Pre-Chapter): Hey guys, I'm sorry if this story isn't really up and kicking with the pairing, but I promise it will soon, that's the entire point of the main part of this story, but for the meantime, please stay with me for the build-up to the trip.

* * *

Buster found himself back at the office, and he was anxious.

It was just yesterday, and Buster was getting antsy for the reply back from the tour group. Sure, he had left them hanging for a week, but he was the _reacher_ here, with the singing group that's genre was as varied as the singers' backgrounds. He opened up his laptop again, and with that the mail application too. He needed to see that reply, or he wasn't going to be able to get any work done. Refreshing the load, he didn't expect it to be there anymore, he'd already checked his mail about 40 times yesterday. After adding another point to the check count, he went down backstage for some coffee.

As he bumbled down the stairs, he came across Mrs Crawly, who had been pulling her own load by carrying a huge stack of paperwork upon her frail, scaly arms. "Ah, Mrs Crawly, good morning to you!" Buster greeted, as he descended the last step and stood to the side as Mrs Crawly took the first step. "Hello, Mr Moon, how are you?" She replied, from behind the stack of papers that flowed above her face. She was now beginning to embark on her mission to carry these papers upstairs, now shaking under the immense load.

"Forget about me, Mrs Crawly, what are all these papers?" Buster asked, and then offered "Would you like some help?" as he stretched out his arms. An audible "Oof" was heard from the smaller koala, as a pile of papers landed on his arms, leaving Mrs Crawly's considerably shorter. "Thank you Mr Moon" was the gratitude Buster got from his secretary. They both began to head upstairs, Buster was going to miss his coffee, being an avid morning drinker himself. He could grab it later anyway, there was a bigger question bugging his mind.

"What are all these papers for Mrs Crawly?" Buster mustered out through pants of breath. This was seriously knackering him. "Oh, these are all the taxes for the last 3 months." " _Ugh_ , I should have seen these coming…" Buster groaned the first part, and muttered last with an unintelligible curse under his heaving breath. Money was no longer the problem; Buster was much more well-funded after proving his worth the several months prior. But these were the first taxes for the new theatre, so it was going to be interesting to see how far the costs had come since.

Now at Mrs Crawly's desk, both animals dropped the flows of white sheets with a thud on to the polished oak wood desk surface, as Buster let out a grunt, with the desk being a bit higher than himself. "Thank you again, Mr Moon, I'll get these done as soon as possible." Mrs Crawly had now returned to her new leather office chair, and booted up the new, much more powerful PC. The _well-funded_ part had definitely shone through here, and was the best thing to ever happen to the theatre. Buster began to head back toward his own office space, a spring in his step as he suddenly felt lighter without the load.

"Thank you Mrs Crawly, always doing a great job, just send me the final costs when you're done, I'll need to get them checked and paid. Also I've still got to send full details to the entire crew after I get the email too." Buster thanked Mrs Crawly once more as he pushed the door open and headed into his own office. The koala had devised a way to organise his own mind, a method he found befitted greatly. He would simply say his schedule out loud, and he found telling someone else helped even more. He had Mr Crawly for that too, and at sometimes she found this behaviour quite peculiar, as he seemed to talk to himself more that directly telling her, this was still a good way of communicating his work to her.

Buster got back to his laptop, and his eyes lit up to the sight of the email in his inbox. That coffee could wait, he needed to get on this. Double-clicking the mail, he began to read it:

Dear Buster Moon (bustermoon),

Thank you for replying, and it's great to have your team on-board, we promise it will be an amazing experience for you and the millions of fans here in the UK. In case you're wondering, it will be an all expenses covered trip, we will be able to make back the revenue through our own method (including advertising, if that's alright with you, but your team will not be sponsored, so no worries). We will be planning your arrival here in 2 weeks, and the tour will be 1 month long. We have many events laid out for you, including the famed Glastonbury 2017, and other events at the O2 arena, and also will end it with a finale at the centre of London. We know, the stories of your performers are the most interesting, and is of course a reason for the fame, and we know it will be difficult for some of them to make it, but it would be great to have the whole group for the best tour ever!

We would love to discuss more casually, so at the bottom we've listed our company's skype for anymore discussion.

We hope to see you here soon, it'll be great!

Yours truly,

UKConcertTours (ukconcertours)

Buster read over it, eyes reflecting the white light form the screen, eyes lit up with excitement. He spontaneously added the contacts to all the different locations, and rushed to make up texts, calls and other emails and whatnot to get the message to the rest of the performers. He sent out a quick text and email with the same message to all 6 members, as he got tried getting on a call on skype, while he added more items to his agenda, as well as getting on hold on his landline to Nana Noodleman, ready to finally discuss this matter. 4 things at once, yet all Buster had on his mind was the bettering prospect of this tour.

The day had rolled by pretty hard for the koala. Buster had managed to get a meeting with Nana for the same day, what a miracle! As her walked in through the huge grand double door, he began to remember just who she was again. The real star before Moon even owned the old theatre, with playwrighgts such as the famed ' _Epiphany_ '. She had kept her diva personality, and was as _difficult_ as ever to talk to, but managed to Buster tell her about the tour. She had apparently given her ' _diva blessing',_ as Eddie had described it. Gunter had also been the first to reply once again. "Ya, this vill be sehr fun, ve vill have lotz of danzing viz fire und dezire!" was his constantly high-pitched German accent through Buster's phone, and Buster's acute sense of hearing didn't help. He had gotten used to it though.

Later in the day, he'd gotten two more calls too, the first being from Mike, who had kept up his attitude though their conversation. "Yeah _yeah_ , Nancy was pretty pissed, but I got it, I am the best singer here after all, I gotta be in the show!" Was the big ego from the small snowball from the other end. How the koala kept up with all these personalities was a real question no one knew the answer to. "We do get a budget for spending money, right?" That was the one question that was left unanswered

The other call came from the real star Elephant's Mother. "Yes, Mr Moon, I'm sure Meena would love to be on the trip." Buster was lucky that the month only took one of the two of her summer vacation. Buster then pulled up his clipboard to a new page, and got ready for some listening. "Yes, please look after her, she's never been out of the country on her own. She's allergic to peanuts, so please watch out for that, also she is vegetarian, so no meat. Don't forget, her medication requirements I've sent you list what she can and can't take…" Buster idly jotted the points down, waiting patiently for the worried mother's monologue to end. "… and please just take good care of her, she is very shy still, and I don't know if she gets homesick, but please look after her. I hope you lot enjoy the trip, and I'm sure Meena will love it."

"Ok that's great, thank you…" Buster started, hoping the several minutes long speech was closed, but "Yes, Mr Moon, thank _you_ , and have you got all of the…" Meena's Mom started again, and Buster found trying to calm her through his excitable voice was quite hard. "Yes, don't worry, I have written it all down. Meena is a _superstar_ and I shall look after her to the same high level as her talent!" Buster exclaimed, tryin once more to finally end the conversation. "Thank you Mr Moon, Bye!" was the voice that brought relief to Buster, ending the conversation.

Buster put down the phone, and drew out a sigh, enjoying the relief it brought when it left his mouth. He scanned the room he was in, his office now, seeing the blank pale walls, with the few items adorning the back wall. His desk was cluttered and messy from the day, papers with lots of tax returns, information about the performers, and other white sheets splayed across the surface. There were also two phones, mixed in with a jumble of pens and pencils and other office stationary items. To the corner sat his laptop. He brought his attention to this last item, closing the lid before grabbing it and jumping off the rolling office chair.

He glanced at the clock above the window, reading 7:15 from the hands. The window below displayed a quieter street, bathed in dark orange light from the setting summer sun, and it would have been lighter out if the light source hadn't been blocked by the masses of dark clouds swirling above. Just the sight of the clouds was simply depressing. "Time to close shop, Mrs Craw…" Buster began shouting, but soon stopped walking toward the exit noticed his secretary was long gone, leaving him shouting to no one. "Oh well…" he muttered to himself as he headed toward the connecting door between his missing secretary's office and his, when he encountered a wall he hadn't seen before.

Opening his eyes from the short blackout, he was now sitting up from his fall, and saw in front of him a large worn blue pole. "Oh, I'm so sorry Mr Moon, please…" was the familiar British accent from higher up. He looked up to be greeted by the large hairy hand of the compassion gorilla he came to know. "Thank you Johnny, don't worry." Buster took both his apology and his hand, and helped himself back onto his own two feet. "What brings you to the theatre?" was now the question Buster proposed to Johnny. "Erm, I… wanted to ask for more details about the… trip…" Johnny trailed off at his own mention of the final word he took a while to push out of his mouth. "Oh, I see, I thought I'd sent you all a text." Buster confirmed, now looking up to Johnny with a puzzled expression. "Ah, right, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you, I've changed my number." Was the more than simple explanation. "That's fine, I'll just send it to you again, come in, and turn on the light please." Buster asked as they headed back into the office.

"Say, Johnny, I hardly ever see you, how've you been?" Buster asked politely, as Johnny followed him in, turning on the light as Buster took to his seat behind his desk again. "I've been great… Mr Moon, how's the theatre doing?" Johnny stumbled slightly, before giving his question back, taking a stand behind the desk. "We've been doing great, there's been plenty of hits now, people seem to like these new shows!" Buster exclaimed proudly, picking up a pen and a piece of paper, and slid it to Johnny, taking up his phone in his other paw. "If you could write some new contact info here. Anyway, are you thinking of coming on the tour?" Buster asked, watching Johnny scribble on the paper. He then quickly added "It's okay if you're still deciding, It's not until two weeks from now, and we already have 3 others on board!" He didn't mean to come across as pushy, but still he couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. "I'm not sure, I'm still thinking about it…" Johnny mused, avoiding eye contact as he kept writing. Buster heard it twice now, and he could tell Johnny was hiding something, but his didn't dare push the matter.

"That's fine, thanks for the info, I'll send you the details tonight." Buster took the pen and paper back from Johnny, who was now standing up straight and heading back to the exit. "Oh, and, Mr Moon. I had some stuff I needed to pick up from the piano room, before I left, if that's alright?" Johnny asked before stepping out of the door. "Sure, I'll be here if you need me. Bye Johnny" Buster bid his good bye as Johnny then returned it before stepping out of the door. Buster heard footsteps getting quieter and heading into the other room, as he jumped off the chair once more, hoping it was the last time he would have to sit there today. He was absolutely knackered.

But, as soon as he took a few steps toward the door again, it swung open, bringing another visitor. Buster inwardly sighed, but didn't let it get to him as he displayed his signature grin to the new figure before him. It was none other than Ash, as she looked a bit gloomy standing in front him. "Ah, Ash, how are you, is there something you came for?" Buster asked, quickly glancing her up and down. "Yeah… um," She started, in a low tone, before perking up to the idea of next part of her sentence; "I came to grab some stuff and say I was okay with coming!" She ended excitedly. "That's great, good to have you on the tour, the fans will love you!" Buster matched her enthusiasm, as she even managed to perk him up from her own distraught mood. "Ok, cool, I need to grab some stuff from my old rehearsal room." Ash concluded, stepping back though the door she came through only seconds ago. "That's fine, see you around!" Buster said before she left through the door. He was surprised, it was the shortest conformation conversation he'd had out of all the others. Maybe she was just not in the mood for more words than necessary? Buster shook it off and pushed a button on the elevator back to his apartment.

Johnny had heard footsteps that weren't his own from outside the piano room, but maybe it was just Mr Moon. Johnny looked for the last sheet of notes he needed, "bloody hell, where is it" being the words that quietly fell out his mouth. He then heard footsteps once more as he bent down to find this missing sheet. Mr Moon must have headed back up now, and with that logic, Johnny was the only one in the theatre now. As he quickly glanced around the room, seeing the shadowy objects glinting or shining in the dark light, he then walked out of the room. Maybe he'd have found the sheets faster if he'd turned on the lights. "Good one." He muttered to himself, stepping out of the darkness.

As he headed down the stairs to the backstage area, he was slightly shocked to hear something, wasn't he the only one here. A little unnerved, he reached the foot of the stairs to determine that the something was in fact a _someone_ talking. It was a shorter figure than himself, yet still oddly shaped. And the words that came from this animal weren't very _clean_ ones, beginning with sounds like 'Fu' and 'Sh' and a 'Damnit' was somewhere there too. He approached the figure, seeing it was a familiar porcupine he'd known, possible the only he'd ever gotten to know too.

"Um, Ash, are you alright…" He started quietly, not to startle the shorter one. When stepping closer to her, he noticed she was staring out the window, which was displaying now a very dark main street, the clouds pouring with rain. He brought his attention back down to her back, he noticed some papers with guitar riffs on them, and in her other hand her guitar in the black case, adorned with various stickers. She had probably come by public transport, something he'd worked out from her common complaints about train times when she was late. It was an old memory from back 4 months ago when the group met regularly during the events of the previous theatre. "I _hate_ the fucking rain." Was the first full phrase he'd heard after being close enough in earshot of her vulgar expressions.

Johnny gently and feebly reached out to tap her shoulder, but he wasn't ready for the jumpscare both received from this one small action, in the dark unlit vast expanse of the backstage area. "OH SHIT!" was the less than clean exclamation that left Ash's mouth as she whipped around to face the larger gorilla, who had a similar shocked expression to her's. "Oh sorry Ash!" Johnny blurted out, trying to keep up with his own increased heartbeat with a higher-pitched voice. "Johnny, please, don't scare me like that…" Ash muttered out, panting from the awkward scare they both had. "Um, sorry, but would you like a ride back home?" Johnny offered.

"Um, no, it's fine, I'm ok thanks." Ash blubbered out. She didn't mean to say it so awkwardly, but for some reason she felt those weird effects she remembered experiencing last time she was with someone with the group, but she still couldn't draw conclusions. Just probably the gesture of pure kindness Johnny extended to her without anything in return. It was just something Johnny would do for a friend out of the kindness of his heart, but Ash had never really come across someone who was just so caring and always looking out for people. Johnny glanced at his watch, and from his expression, she could only guess it was quite late. "It's 8:10, and it's raining pretty bad too. By the way I did hear you." Johnny answered her thought, and also was probably referring to her comments on rain. "Are you sure you don't need a ride back, my truck's parked just outside?" Johnny tried reasoning with her, surely she wouldn't want to take the train home in this weather at night.

"Actually, could you drive me home? That would be great." Ash asked, with the last part she felt she was just convincing herself. "No problem, let's go." Johnny gestured to the backstage exit. As they approached the door, Johnny opened it for Ash, with a "Ladies first." Gesturing toward the truck on the other side of the street. Ash almost felt her cheeks warm a little with that, if it weren't for the heavy cold rain now hitting her person. Of course, Johnny couldn't ignore her shivering as they headed to his truck, so as she walked around the side of the black pick-up, Johnny opened the door for her and helped her up into the truck, which was relatively large compared to her small size, as he draped his beloved leather jacket over her shoulders. He then couldn't help but chuckle very quietly to himself, seeing her dwarfed by not only the jacket but the truck's interior too, as she stood by the foot of the seat.

Ash couldn't really form words to show her gratitude. She had never been thankful or kind to anyone before, all the bar auditions turning her down and animals on the street looking at her funny for her attire. But she had to, Johnny was being way too kind to her for her own good, and she felt guilty unable to give back anything in return. "Umm… Thanks, Johnny… for all this." She quietly mumbled, weakly gesturing with a paw around her, and at the leather jacket that was now warming up to her. At least it was a start. "Don't worry Ash, please, the pleasure is all mine." Johnny replied, shutting the door for her before walking around in his drenched form to get into the driver's seat. Even though she was quite warm now in the jacket in the truck, she quivered just at the sound of his accent punctuating those words.

Johnny started the ignition, and turned to Ash, who was strapped into the seat by only the lap belt; the chest one was too high for her. "So, where to?" Johnny asked her casually, staring at her small form in the large seat. He had to admit he found it pretty cute. "Erm… I live on the street by Dinsdale, it's pretty run down…" she mumbled off, slightly embarrassed by her own terrible apartment area conditions. "Ok, Dinsdale it is." Johnny said proudly with a firm voice. He gently throttled the V8 engine, as they cruised toward Ash's apartment.

Johnny kept his eyes on the road, but his mind was elsewhere. "So, how have you been?" He asked calmly, not really expecting a response; she seemed like she was in a bad mood earlier. "Uhm… I've been fine, you?" was the response that entered his right ear. He glanced over to her from the windscreen for a few seconds to keep contact. "I'm alright, you know, work at the garage, business as usual." Was the only time he had before he needed to look back at the road. "How's your songwriting going? Got any new songs?" He had heard she was trying to write a new album, after the hit that was her _single_ ' _Set it all Free_ '. "Yeah, I've been trying, but the motivation just isn't there." She gave back, with a sigh he could here from the short distance they sat from each other. "Have you been keeping busy, going out, hanging with friends and stuff?" was a question Ash didn't really expect.

Ash had been 4 months now without that cheating bastard ex of a _boyfriend_ she looked up to. She still mourned the situation, how did he get to be happy with another girlfriend, when she had to take the brunt of it all? It reduced her to tears on and off for two months after the breakup. And in other friends, she was pretty isolated and alone, her little fake ' _punk-rocker'_ persona she built with Lance had prevented her from being outgoing and making any other friends. She started scrambling in her mind, searching for anyone she knew that cared about her, apart from some apparent ' _fans'_ out there. She didn't really have any family either, her parents had abandoned her, a young baby porcupine on the porch of an orphanage. Sad yet common, the orphanage had taken in most of their orphans that way. The name she made for herself was truly her own, she hadn't relied on anyone. But on the other hand, she didn't have anyone, no one who knew or cared for her. It only really just hit her now, and of all times, why now?

Johnny had quickly forgotten his question, as he concentrated on the road, the sound of the rumbling American V8 under the hood in front of him, and the splash and road noise filling the silence. They kept going, until a full 10 minute ride, and he was where Ash said to go. Where was the block though? "Um, Ash, we're here." He began, turning the key, ending the engine to leave only the noise of the _'pitter-patter'_ of the rain on the metal bodywork and the road. "Erm, so where is the blo…" he stopped, as he heard sniffles and sobs next to him. He wasn't really ready to confront the crying porcupine next time him.

"Ash! Are you alright, what's wrong… was it something I said, I'm sorry, I'll go now…" He started with his tongue fumbling for words, not really knowing why the animal next to him was crying. She didn't deserve to, she was much too special for the sadness he saw in her now. "NO, please, don't go…" was the sudden outburst next to him, both the tone and words shocked him. "I'm… so alone, all… alone" was the feeble voice from the crying ball on the seat next to him. It deeply saddened him to hear these words, and he couldn't take it anymore. He unbuckled his seatbelt, and shuffled closer to her, then… now what? He awkwardly draped his arms around her and waited. The sobs and sniffles slowly died down. "Is there something I could do?" Johnny asked calmly and quietly, hoping to get her out of her misery. "Could you come in?" was the interesting reply, but Johnny was more worried about her, he had to join her then.

They waddled to the front door of the apartment block Ash lived in, close to each other in each other's presence, Johnny's wet body drenched in rain, body showing through the wet green lightning-bolt jumper that stuck to his skin. He had his arms draped around the smaller porcupine. Ash was still wearing the jacket, which protected her quite well from the elements. They headed in and up to Ash's floor, as she unlocked her flat and they both walked in. Ash seemed to have calmed down, and invited Johnny in. "Make yourself at home, take a seat in the living room over there if you want." She shouted as she walked into the kitchen, but before she did, she handed back what was rightfully Johnny's. "Thank you, Johnny, for being here, it… really means a lot… to me." She admitted, handing back his Jacket. "And thanks for this."

Johnny took his place on the sofa in the small living room, which was slightly messy. There were music sheets strewn about the floor, along with other pictures and what looked like remains of shredded portraits of her with another porcupine. Ash came back with a cup of coffee and a cup of tea on a tray. "Here, please, have some tea." She placed the tray on the coffee table, and took a coffee of her own. "Thanks, you really didn't have too." Johnny rubbed his neck nervously, as he took the tea cup into his large hands. "You are a guest, and once again, thanks for staying with me." Ash thanked again before taking a sip of the coffee. "Well, thanks for the tea, even for the stereotype." Johnny said with a chuckle, earning a giggle from Ash. At least she was calmer now. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Ash asked, getting up to turn on the small 32" Samsung TV facing the sofa.

"Whatever's on is fine by me." Johnny replied, watching her return to her seat on the two seater sofa next to him. They settled down and watched the crime thriller that was playing on a channel for five minutes, Ash starting to get into the plot. But Johnny still had the girl next to him on his mind. "Ash, I want you to always remember, you are never alone. You have us in the theatre, and I promise I'll always be there for you, and so will the others." His speech brought Ash out of the TV, and his words made emotions she wouldn't usually associate with herself well up inside her. Words like kindness, friendship, and care were the thoughts in her mind. "And I'm really sorry for running on you and Rosita yesterday, I just had some things on my mind. Your words really touched me yesterday, and I want to be able to return the favour." He finished.

"Thank you, you just… being here, keeping me company… is all the favour I wanted… thank you Johnny." She said, looking up to him, smiling. He smiled back, and that was enough confirmation for her to slide closer to him, and she enjoyed his warmth, that came though his wet jumper. She then felt slightly worried, her gesture may have made him uncomfortable, but she had these thoughts put aside, when he suddenly draped those warm hairy arms around her again, giving her a mushy feeling inside. This time though, unlike the last many years, she left her attitude aside and conformed to the warm emotions and feelings she was getting. They sat close together, and watched the TV into the night, enjoying each other's company.

Before they knew it, they were asleep, Ash resting her head on Johnny's shoulder, with Johnny's head resting on her's.

* * *

Author's Crap 1 (Crap that goes on that you don't want to bother reading; like a longer A/N): SO There, it is a Jash ship after all. This is the largest chapter/script I've ever written, its crossing 5000 words right now, so cool? I didn't mean to end the chapter like this, but I didn't have any ideas on what to write to end the chapter, and the cute ending came to me in chunks. But this is the most you'll see to the main point of the story, which is in a while. Till then though, I have lots of plot ideas.

This one is interesting, I only saw the movie sing after hearing about this video: watch?v=EBe1hXRNi4g in case you can't see it, it's a video by resident British 'I Hate Everything', and details all the ways that Sing (2016) is _**BAD**_. I know right, I only watched the video after the movie though, and the points still hold, but that won't deter me from the characters and the fandom!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this long chapter, and stay tuned for the next one! (REVIEWS PLEASE) Peace!


	5. Pasts and Talks (Part 1)

Another one, Enjoy!

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Vision blurry, a dark shade covered a scene, soon morphing into a coffee table, a messy carpeted floor and a small TV in the distance.

Johnny awoke to a room he couldn't recall, with an awful crick in his neck. "Arg…" he groaned, tilting his neck, only to yield a large ' _click'._ A few more times, in a couple of different directions, and he felt a little relieved. Only now his second, possibly most important priority. _Where the hell was he?_

His senses were now finally talking to him, and before him, it was clearly someone's living room. Messy too, with lots of electric music equipment. The walls were slightly moulding in the corners, an attribute that couldn't have been easily spotted under the walls' black paint cover. Standing up now, he noticed he was slightly out of place, everything seeming quite _small_ to him. Stood among a mess on the floor, music sheets covered the carpet, not for him though, as they showed guitar riffs instead of staves. 2 appropriately small sized electric guitars, one base and another 6-string stood on the wall. Electric Guitars… he could hear it too, electric ones being played quite loudly, but it seemed like a recording. Hard, Loud riffs in the form of a rock song he couldn't recognise came from outside the room's door. Electric Guitars, Hard rock, loud riffs, messy living room, there was no doubt now…

He was in Ash's house.

As the realisation struck him, his eyes widened slightly. But still, that begged the next question. _How did he get here?_ Then events of last night flooded his mind. A lift home, Ash crying about being lonely, then going into her house, and then…! He _(basically in his mind)_ had slept with Ash! Johnny was visibly freaking out now, shocked expression on his face. They hardly knew anything about each other, and hadn't met in 4 months, yet last night they had gotten a bit too close. Well… _way_ too close. It was the most awkward thought that could have graced his mind in a long while. He needed to at least apologise.

Stepping though the small door frame, minding his own head as he slightly crawled into the hallway, he remembered just how small this place was. How didn't he notice this yesterday? He must have been so full of himself, lost in Ash's presence. He did like her, she was pretty nice, and she did need a bit of TLC yesterday, so that was the only way he could justify his thoughts. Once again crawling into another doorway, this added him to the kitchen, the source of the loud rock. It was quite loud for the morning anyway. Ash now took his attention, as she jumped around to the song, holding a pan donned with a boiling fried egg on it. She noticed him and turned to him, ready to say something when Johnny blurted out first.

"Oh, Ash, I'm really sorry for staying here last night, I didn't mean to, and I'm really sorry for that awkward couch moment, I didn't…" Johnny's words dropped out his mouth, his face showing a nervous expression. Ash relaxed a little from a small jump that was Johnny's big stature in the kitchen with her. "Johnny, calm down, chill… I… appreciate it, even if it was a little awkward." Little, who was she kidding, not Johnny obviously. They slept next to each other, if only 2 hours prior they were still in Johnny's car. "Look, it was a little unplanned, but I wouldn't have let you go home that late, and… It was nice… having someone next to me after that hole for 4 months…" The last part she quietly mumbled, mainly confessing to herself, but Johnny still heard her anyway. Lance had tried complaining to her about his mistake for a solid 2 months after the concert, and even tried _'visiting'_ a couple times. The visits were just banging on her door, screaming phrases like _'take me back, babe.'_ , _'come on, babe.'_ , _'I made you who you are.'_ (this one got her to tears instantly the few times he'd said it, it really made her question herself), ' _I left Becky for you too'_. The last she knew was complete bullshit, she saw him with her only a month back. She would cry every time he came to her door, and was more than relieved when it ended abruptly two months ago. She guessed he finally got it to leave her alone.

Johnny saw her, deep in thought, as he thought about her words just then, and from last night. He had never known this side of her, calm, soft and heart exposed. He had kept his stereotype from his first impression of her, thinking she was always the moody, bitchy screaming punk, aspiring to keep the act of every other rock star. But there must always be a mushy side to someone. To be honest to himself, he liked her soft side. Johnny noticed he was now quite close to her, he must have been drawn closer to her words, and he then let his emotions take control. He knelt to put his large hand on her shoulder comfortingly, as it covered the top portion of her arm. "Erm… I'm happy to know you're… erm…" He couldn't complete it, seeing she was staring into the ground. She snapped up, slightly jolting Johnny further awake from the slumber on the uncomfortable sofa. "Thanks, Johnny. Anyway, shall we have breakfast?" She asked, motioning to the pan with her free hand. Johnny stood up confidently, and answered simply "Sure."

The night's awkwardness had cleared as they sat at Ash's table in the kitchen, as they'd gotten a bit calmer in each other's presence. "So, Erm, are you going on the trip?" Johnny asked, slightly muffled from a half-full mouth. "Yeah, I thought it would be nice to get out this apartment, there's too many memories here I don't want to be around." Ash answered. Continuing, "Lance and I had taken this apartment 3 years ago, and I'd always believed he made me who I am. Then when I try to win us the competition, he _fucking_ cheats on me! In this past 4 months, I haven't even been able to finish a whole song, since the first. They all just start, and don't end properly, just like my life." Ash complained, finishing her monologue. When she noticed that Johnny was staring at her intently, hand losing grip on his fork, she quickly added "Sorry for that, it just came out, I never totally told anyone my story…" "Oh, don't worry, I'm sorry to hear how bad it is." Johnny soothed, looking right into her blue irises. When she heard his kind, calm British accent, she thought everything would be alright. "You can always talk to me, Ash," he continued "Oh, today I need to talk to my dad today, we haven't had a conversation in weeks. I haven't told him about it yet... and I'm kind of nervous… I don't know how he'll react…" Johnny mumbled to himself, wearing a nervous expression once more.

"If you want I can some, for uhm… _moral_ support… or something…?" Ash asked, slightly quietly, realising how silly _'moral support'_ sounded. Ash was still trying to grasp this _'be kind to others'_ concept for that past 4 months, but she was still unsuccessful. Especially in public. She would wear her resting bitch face almost 24/7, and whenever she encountered another animal, she would grumble and stare at them angrily. This resulted in a sort of invisible bubble she'd formed, that animals would avoid entering from a metre radius. "If you want to… actually…, if you could, it would be nice… If you're not busy or anything, you don't have to though." Johnny began quietly, before blurting out the last, trying to stay with his kind character and clear any thoughts of pressure. "No, it's fine Johnny, I still owe you one for last night, and I do want to meet your dad. Maybe he's even a better driver than you!" She teased, coercing him into taking her. "You don't owe me anything Ash, and… it is prison, have you even ever been?" Johnny questioned. Everyone knew about Johnny's dad in jail. It was just simple connections after Eddie mentioned it one rehearsal, talking about a gang arrest, and Johnny suddenly blurting out more info than he needed to. "Well, only one way to find out!" Ash proclaimed, finishing her plate and getting up to put it in the sink. "Ok, I guess we _can_ go now then." Johnny stated and got up too.

They both walked backed to the truck, which was parked just around the corner of Ash's old apartment block. Just like the old Living room, it was clear to Johnny that the entire place was at least 50 years old without major refurbishment. Windows had white paint peeling off, revealing the wood frame underneath. The building's sturdy brick walls were now showing their age, and it didn't look fashionable by the slightest. Johnny opened the passenger door for Ash, resulting with a ' _clunk'_ from the old door hinges, and "Oh Johnny, what a gentleman!" from Ash. He took that as a compliment. Walking around the front, he admired his own truck, sure it wasn't the best looking, but it had a great American Muscle V8 he'd put in himself, which he was very proud of. He sat in the seat, as he saw Ash was fiddling with her guitar case. "Did you want to put that back?" He asked politely, strapping himself into the seat. "Nah, I can't be assed." Was Ash's not so subtle answer, as her gaze stayed fixated on the case. "Right, Sure." He couldn't say much to that as he started the ignition. But what came next scared them both out of their skin.

"HAAAND OF BLOOOOD, I don't wanna feel, my heart is breaking" were the words that roared at their eardrums. "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE!" was the shriek yelped out by the small porcupine, eyes wide. Johnny wore a similar expression, noticing that it was the stereo in the car. Hairy hand scrambled at the buttons panting, and he found the dial to turn it down to, as it read on the display: _'Vol: min.'_ Both now panting after the huge initial shock, Ash looked to Johnny, as he turned to her. She wore a smirking face, with her eyebrows arched. Johnny wore a relieved expression of sorts, as he clutched his chest. "So… I didn't know _you_ were into hard metal, of all people?!" she seemed to be surprised, but was still confused. "Yeah, sorry, erm… that was _pretty_ awkward." He mused, before trying to explain "It must have been cycling my rock playlist, I listen to all sorts of stuff…" he tried reasoning, hairy hand nervously scratching his neck. "Heh, what else don't I know, hmn? Here I was, thinking you were just a soul, and R, and B kinda dude? Now you're listening to Bullet for my valentine!" She exclaimed, laughing aloud mockingly. "Hey, can't I listen to what I like? Or should I play the John Legend album?" The gorilla complained, in a slightly broken voice. "NO!" she suddenly looked up at him with a playfully shocked expression with her hands up in surrender. "And put it up, I haven't listened to this one in ages, Naughties metal, how do you even have this?" She mumbled the final part to herself, as she messed with the dial, turning it up. The stereo played loud again, but this time more prepared, she flicked open the case of her guitar before yelling to Johnny over the hard guitar riffs "Get a move on, we'll be LATE!" So Johnny took heed of the smaller ones words as he pushed the pedal before heading toward the prison.

He kept his eyes on the road, but with enough attention to share glances as Ash pulled her guitar out. He did have some things he wanted to say, as he wasn't one for awkward and quiet car rides, but she seemed to be enjoying herself too much for him to interrupt her. She was nodding her head violently with her eyes closed, now with the guitar in her lap. Matter of a few seconds later, he could hear the volume turn up, as Ash skilfully matched the guitar riffs in the song. He smiled, knowing she couldn't see (or probably hear) him as she rocked out. ' _Words literally cannot describe her talent'_ he thought to himself, before suddenly getting a taint of red on his cheeks. ' _Wow, did I just think that?'_ He questioned himself,looking over to her small stature, still rocking out to the heavy metal. He shook his head, trying to get rid of these weird thoughts in his mind. He began to think about what he was going to say to his dad.

Sure, he remembered enough of his old home since he left at 12. They were a happy family, his dad working a stable job, and his mother and his father was so happy all the time. But then, well, his mum passed away, and just that like that they left for America, packing up whatever little they had. His dad had told him everything would be alright, and they would be okay. His uncle had a garage business, and Johnny's dad, and to some extent Johnny at the time, had both been good with cars. They helped out, but then with the strain of the 6 of them in the garage, money was becoming an issue. Johnny couldn't remember exactly when, but he soon found out his family had turned to crime. Just robbery, as they tried to keep their morals somewhat intact, but what could they do? But as he grew up, he grew closer to the crimes, until Johnny was a part of it all. A terrible part at that too, but he knew he just wasn't cut out for it.

He began remembering the events of the final robbery, but he tried pushing them out of his mind again. There were a lot of things he was avoiding thinking now, and he knew he'd have to come back to them soon, but he kept them away for now. But what now, was he really going to go back, back to his past? And what was his dad going to say? He was suddenly very grateful of the porcupine beside him, rocking out to the loud music, which he'd realised he completely blocked out with his thoughts. She was giving up her own time to be next to him, and he was going to need it. He hoped she could be there next to him because he was going to need it. _'Look at yourself, relying on someone you hardly know, maybe you're just as lonely as she says she is…'_ he thought to himself. As all these thoughts ran through his mind, his furrowed brow deepened on his face.

He pulled up to the large, fierce looking building that was the state prison. He looked up at it, with its metal, pointy fences, concrete grounds surrounding the four large, grey walls. Ash was still rocking out, which brought him to the fact that the car was playing quite loud. He pulled the keys out of the ignition, which instantly cut the stereo out. Ash opened her eyes and looked up, releasing her guitar and letting it fall into her lap. "Oh come on, I was loving that one!" she whined, but let up her attitude when Johnny stared at her with a stern face. "Ash, are you sure you want to meet my dad? We only met properly yesterday, and sure we know a bit more about each other, but still…" "It's cool, I do want to meet him, and we did basically sleep with each other last night." Ash stated the last line quietly, looking down at her lap with hot cheeks. This heat soon transferred to Johnny's cheeks, as he too found sudden interest in the steering wheel. "Oh, well, it wasn't like _THAT!_ " Johnny exclaimed, voice slightly breaking. He definitely didn't need to remember that awkward moment, and neither did she. It brought out feelings they both didn't know how to deal with, so it was once again pushed away into the past. "Erm, let's go?" Johnny's voice slightly rose, in a questioning tone. "Yeah, K" was as much as he was going to get for a response.

He got out and helped Ash down, as she took his hand, slightly blushing to herself at the gesture. They walked up to the cold, dull prison grounds, and stepped in through the gates. Taking in the cold, barren room's surroundings, they walked up to the visitor desk, and Johnny stepped up to the cold looking rhino, who was clad in an officer's uniform, and seemed to be the only one there at this 12:00 lunch break. He was staring intently into his glowing phone screen when Johnny cleared his throat, getting the rhino's attention. The rhino looked up, placed the device down and looked Johnny up and down, judging him almost instantly. "Hello there, you look dangerous, are you packing anything? Maybe you confessing, handing yourself in? Did you steal something, or hurt someone?" Was his hard, low questioning tone, as he kept scanning Johnny. "Uh, no… no! I didn't do anything! I was just… here to see someone…" Johnny found himself instantly nervous, feeling anxious under his interrogation. "Right, so who is it?" was the cold voice behind now a computer screen, that lit up his ivory horn. Scars were clearly visible, possibly from a better time. Now he's probably just stuck with this desk job. "Erm, my dad, Thomas Evans." Was Johnny's slow response. "And who's the little missy behind you?" Was the cop's next question, looking past Johnny now at Ash. Johnny turned around to see her looking up and around, jaw slightly open at the immense size of it all. Johnny chuckled slightly to himself, remembering his own reaction was slightly similar when he first came to see his dad. "She's a friend, we both wanted to meet him, and I did arrange a meeting." "Right, yeah, Thomas Evans for 12:00 p.m. Visiting area on the left, and stay outta trouble!" Was the rhino's parting words as Johnny snapped Ash out of her gaze and they left.

The visiting area was just as dull and grey, with the prominent material being cold stone. Johnny and Ash waited, then from the far door opposite to the one they arrived from stepped through a large gorilla in orange. He was followed by a large elephant, in a similar uniform to the guard they met prior, who left the same way they came. Ash didn't really need much of an introduction, as she watched Johnny run up to his dad and hug, with a smile. "Johnny, my _LAD_! I 'avent seen you in ages!" the voice of gorilla she now knew as Thomas boomed with pride. Or more importantly the most infamous gang leader the city had ever seen, Big Daddy. His heists had always been in the news, but she never knew she'd ever meet him like this, and for (her idea of) a _wanted celebrity._ She loved the local crime stories on TV, and she thought the life was so awesome, being the bad guys, running away from the _5-0_. A life behind law was a life she found boring, but she had enough reason in front of her to keep her from being _too edgy_ for her own good.

"Dad, it's only been two weeks." Johnny whined from his dad's strong embrace. Ash knew enough to know he was 19, but he was still a kid in comparison to Thomas' full mountain-gorilla height, and it made Ash feel warm inside. Ash didn't even know her own parents, and didn't know what this sort of parental love was, but before she could dwell on it any longer, her thoughts were broken by the loud British accent. "I know, my son! How've you been? Is the garage alright" "Yeah, I'm fine, the garage is…" Ash could clearly see who the more important role here was. "And how about your little girl here, who's this?" Ash was finally noticed and roped into the conversation. "Ah, Dad, she's from the theatre group…" Johnny started, before being cut off again. "I'm Ash, nice to meet you! And I'll have you know I'm not that small!" Ash had just proudly introduced herself, and retorted at the same, as she walked up to large figure. "Ah, a big attitude is always great." Thomas boomed, chucking to himself. Ash could hear Johnny, who'd walked off earlier, sigh in the corner with his head in his hands, and she couldn't help but get a breathy laugh herself.

"I know all about your amazing heists, you're the infamous Big Daddy!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, unable to keep the unneeded enthusiasm in her voice (especially in a prison where he'd been done in for by the same name.) "Ah, my gal! So you do know me!" Thomas kept the enthusiasm himself, and continued "I'll have you know I do know a bit about you too, I'd seen your performance too, and Johnny's told me about you all as well!" He revealed, resulting in Ash looking over her shoulder to see Johnny watching them, as he suddenly wore a nervous expression, with his signature neck rub. "Oh, he's told you all about _me,_ has he?" She was just teasing him now, enjoying his not-so-subtle glares from the corner of her eye.

After shooting Ash a glare, he let off his expression and chuckled to himself, surprised at how quickly the two got along. Here he was, thinking of talking to his dad, but only to bring a friend who caught his dad's attention and was more interesting than he was. Also, how did Ash know so much about his dad, maybe it was the local news? He thought about how passionate she was just seeing his dad, and he admired how she was so unlike any other girls he'd seen. She was into rock and hard metal, instead of sappy love songs. She had a stronger attitude than him, literally a gorilla who'd been raised with a gang. She was into crime and action, instead of soap and drama. She was more about living life now, instead of living on social media. She was more chill than chick. She really was somewhat of a one of a kind. Pulling out of his own mind, he saw his dad and Ash staying lively, now seemingly talking about a bank robbery. Already setting off bells in his mind, he paced over to them to stop this discussion, not one that was going to be the best for prison.

"Alright, Erm… Ash, Dad, I don't think we need to _seriously_ talk about crime right now?" Trying to telecommunicate a _'You're gonna get into trouble'_ message to both. "Yeah, ok whatever" Ash said in a laidback tone, and sauntered to the side to let Johnny face his dad. "Sure, my boy, what you say." Was the equally carefree response from his dad. _'Honestly these too are too similar and two too much.'_ Johnny complained to himself in his mind and sighed inwardly. "Erm, dad, there's something I need to tell you." Johnny said calmly, or so he thought. He felt Ash grab his finger in reassurance, and when he looked down to meet her worried gaze, he noticed he was slightly shaking, and his face clearly showed his scared mental state. He wrapped his hand around her wrist, taking as much comfort as he could get, which she returned by fully wrapping her paw around his index finger. "Are you alright Johnny, what is it?" His father's jolly tone had now lowered, also seeing Johnny's seriously worried face.

"I need to go to the UK."

* * *

I had to split it into two parts to make it easier to write, no other reason really. Nothing else to say, next chapter up soon. Peace! (I WANT MORE REVIEWS GUYS COME ON)


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